Late Night Monsters
by Lizard Pie
Summary: A four year old Faust VIII has a monster in his room. It's up to Faust VII to save him.


AN: More chibi-Faust. I've launched a series on Henrietta and Johann (Faust in this story) over on deviantart and fictionpress. They're nice characters –and constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Johann is VIII, Faust is VII.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

Johann was sweating when he creaked his parent's bedroom door open. His mouth tightened as he noted that there was only one figure lying in the bed.

That was right… his Mutti was working late.

She was always there when he woke up… he just hadn't known she wouldn't be home by now.

All that was left… was his papa…

Johann bit his lip –this… wasn't fair. Not tonight…

But, there was no real option unless he was going to stay up and see when she finally did come back… who knew when that would be, though.

That settled it, there _was_ no other option.

He crept over and hesitantly shook his father's arm, "Papa?"

Faust jumped slightly as he was jerked from his sleep, but kept his eyes shut, "Go back to bed, Johann."

Johann bit his lip, "…C-can I sleep in here tonight?"

He frowned and spoke slowly to suppress his annoyance, "It's very late and your room is perfectly alright."

He shook his head, "But… there's a monster in there."

Behind the lids, Faust's eyes rolled. Nothing like this _ever_ happened when Henrietta was home. That would just be far too easy for him.

"Don't be so childish -there are no such things as monsters." When there was no response, he opened his eyes to at least get a blurred image of his son, "Don't you believe me?"

From what he could tell, Johann was looking at his feet, "I… uh… please?"

Faust sighed irritably and grabbed his glasses from the side table, "Look, I'll prove it to you." He reluctantly left his place on the bed and led his son back to his bedroom.

Faust entered and flicked the lights on. It was exactly as he'd left it when he'd put Johann to bed -what time was it? –six hours ago.

"See? There's nothing here."

He turned around to find his son was still outside, keeping his back plastered against the far wall and shaking slightly.

Johann looked at his feet and muttered something.

Faust stepped forward, looking at him a bit more forcefully, "What?"

He peeked at Faust almost embarrassed through his hair, "Monsters are afraid of grown-ups… and light."

Faust frowned deeply, "Johann, it's two AM. If there were a monster, which there's _not_, he'd be asleep too."

He was being stared at in horror –he'd said the wrong thing.

Basically, there was only one way to resolve this if he was going to be able to get back to bed.

"_If_ I let you stay in my room tonight –and _only_ tonight –will you sleep?" he asked flatly.

Johann's eyes brightened before he nodded.

Faust sighed, "Fine. But I don't want any more of this foolishness."

His son happily trailed him as he shut off the light and head back to his own room.

After he helped Johann into the high bed, he returned to his place to try and get back to sleep.

A few minutes later, Johann still stared at his mother's pillow. "…Papa?"

"Hm?" Faust asked irritably.

"…What about tomorrow?"

Faust paused for a moment before tightening his mouth, "Tomorrow you'll be sleeping in…"

"But he'll be back!" Johann said desprately as he turned around and grabbed his father's arm, "He's gonna eat me and…"

Because, of course, _nothing_ like this could ever happen while his wife was around.

He placed his hand softly on Johann's cheek to calm him. "Look –tomorrow while you're at kindergarten, I'll go through your room and find the monster. Then I'll kick him out of the house. You'll be fine."

Faust could just barely register the wide smile spreading across his son's face for a moment.

"But what if he…"

Faust rolled his eyes, "And when I kick him out, I'll scare him so much that he'll never go back. And he'll tell all his friends and they won't come over here, either."

"…Really?" Even with his exhaustion he could tell the happiness in his son's voice.

He nodded, "Yes. Now, go to sleep."

Johann cuddled close, "…Thanks papa."

He let a corner of his mouth quirk upward, "It's alright."

Putting an arm around Johann's shoulder, Faust let himself fall back to sleep.

!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!

Johann's back was cold when he woke up –his father was already gone. He frowned slightly –he'd been hoping that he would have at least have gotten him up.

But when he opened his eyes, his mother was before him –so he supposed he was alright.

"Good morning, Mutti," he said cheerfully, moving over to hug her.

Henrietta creaked her eyes open before she smiled exhaustedly. "Good morning, baby. Papa let you sleep in here with him?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair.

"There was a monster in my room," he told her softly.

Her eyebrows rose slightly –her husband being who he was, it must have been a difficult evening she'd definitely hear about.

"Wow, that must have been scary," she said, leaning in a bit, "What'd you do?"

"I went and got Papa… and he let me stay in here."

Based on the pause –and logic –there were things being cut out. He'd been yelled at, or at least criticized. She smiled reassuringly to him.

"But," he told her, perking up, "He said that today he'd get rid of the monster, so I'll be safe!"

A smile spread across her face, "He did that? He must love you, sweetie."

Johann hesitated, "Really? Cause, he gets mad at me a lot and…"

"He just doesn't know how to work with kids –he really does love you." She kissed his forehead, "Let's get you ready for school, okay?"

!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!

"Make it… 15 cc, then check on him in a half hour," Faust told the resident, passing back the chart as he continued on his rounds.

He paused as he felt arms wrap around his stomach, a body press itself close.

"They let you out of surgery?" he asked, glancing at Henrietta over his shoulder.

"I snuck out," she said, "Johann told me what you did last night." She smiled brightly, "How long have you been hiding that you could be parental?"

He shrugged slightly, looking back at his paperwork, "You underestimate me too often."

"I guess so," she said, shrugging lightly, "If that's the case I should take the night shift more often."

He blinked, "Henri…"

"Dr. Faustus?"

The two looked the nurse over, making her fidget nervously.

"Which one?" Faust asked flatly.

"Uh… your wife…" she practically whispered.

Henrietta smiled at him, "Alright –I'll see you tonight." She moved to the nurse, taking the file and glanced it over, "What did you need?"

Faust watched the two women head back to the surgery ward before shaking his head. Once again, decisions had been made without him.

If she had her way, he'd be babysitting far more often -having to deal with his son being the child that he unfortunately was.

This, he reluctantly admitted to himself, probably wouldn't be so bad. Perhaps… a break from the constant need to tutor could be refreshing.

If all Johann's work was already done… he might not fight her so vehemently.


End file.
